


Summer Vacation Buddies (Unless???)

by justapigeon



Series: Tales of the Modern AU [1]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Abuse, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Modern with Bending (Avatar), Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Bi Disaster Sokka, Bisexual Sokka, Child Abuse, Crushes, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Modern AU, POV: Sokka (Avatar), Some Swearing, Theatre nerd Zuko, Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck, based on my first study trip, bromance to romance to bromance apparently, study trip to Ba Sing Se
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-07
Updated: 2020-07-07
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:54:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25135744
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justapigeon/pseuds/justapigeon
Summary: Sokka is fifteen and on his first study trip.Zuko is sixteen and on his first trip outside the Fire Nation since he went to stay with Uncle.On the flight to Ba Sing Se they find themselves neighbours, and then friends.Three weeks of friendship and crushes in the haze of Ba Sing Se summer.
Relationships: Implied Bato/Hakoda, Zuko/Sokka, zukka
Series: Tales of the Modern AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1846216
Comments: 24
Kudos: 336





	Summer Vacation Buddies (Unless???)

**Author's Note:**

> Based on my first study trip, here is my first work ever. Of course it had to be zukka.

_“You’re kindly reminded that any form of bending is strictly prohibited within the airport and on the planes. Thank you for helping us keep you safe.”_

Caldera City Central Airport is a swarming hell of tired tourists, locals looking forward to escape the hellish summer in the metropolis, and hordes of kids headed on study trips or group vacations.  
Tui and La, the S.W.T. International Airport sure hadn’t been as crowded, and definitely not as _noisy_ , that morning. The endless chatter surrounding him now drowns out even the rattling of his wheeled duffel’s wheels on the floor tiles as he runs.  
Sokka is trying very hard not to knock anyone down in his rush to get to Gate 6 before his plane takes off, which is supposed to happen in approximately ten minutes.  
There had been no direct flights to Ba Sing Se, of course - there were never direct flights to Ba Sing Se, at least not until much later in the southern winter - and he’s had to fly all the way to the damned Fire Nation – which is hot, since it’s summer there, waaaay too hot for his liking - to catch a coincidence he now might miss because he forgot to pack his seal jerky.  
Well, it’s not _entirely_ his fault. Katara had woken him up at two in the morning, and the constant twilight didn’t help. He had barely managed to wear his shoes on the right foot, remembering to grab seal jerky before he left was just asking for far too much from his very tired brain.  
Alas, he has not eaten anything since “breakfast”, as he has also slept through the whole flight, missing the snack cart twice.  
Then, after the plane had landed and he had texted Dad to tell him he was ok and in Caldera City, he decided to grab something to eat from one of the many and way too expensive bars. But the queue was so long, it seemed to never move, and a little too late he had realized his plane was taking off soon and he was on the opposite side of the airport than the terminal he was supposed to be at.  
In short, Sokka is very good at scheduling and being on time – he had planned the whole day flawlessly, truth be told -, except when he’s very sleepy and very starved.  
Things which he is right now.  
At last, Gate 6 comes into view.  
Forcing his legs to keep moving as fast as legs can move, Sokka fumbles with the latch of his bag, grasping for the boarding ticket and his documents. Panting, he hands them to the lady behind the desk, which eyes them with an arched eyebrow before taking them.  
She nods, and hands them back.  
He did it.  


\------- 

The overhead locker closes with a click. It’s a bit far from his seat, but Sokka is glad he at least got his luggage to fit in. He’ll just shove his bag under the seat in front of him. He grips the shoulder strap of said bag, and begins walking back towards the end of the plane.  
_25… 27…_  
He mumbles out apologies for those he bumps into, and thinks with joy that he got the window seat and with dread that he will probably have to ask his neighbour to get up.  
_30… 33…_  
Here it is.  
Seat 34 A.  
He looks down at the occupant of seat 34 C, much shorter than him while seated and with his head bent, a dark mop of hair covering his face as he rummages through his bag for something.  
Sokka clears his throat, and the head snaps up, revealing the face of someone his age – except an angry red scar covers half of it. The boy’s eyebrow, arched just a moment ago, quickly furrows into a scowl.  
Ok, maybe he shouldn’t stare at him like that, it’s probably rude. But man, that is quite a scar! And those are some golden eyes – he’s never seen eyes screaming Fire Nation so loudly, that’s the reason he’s interested.  
Well, this _is_ his first trip on his own. And he’s never been to the Fire Nation, just some seaside villages in the Earth Kingdom with Dad and Katara once in a while, and those were quite devoid of Fire Nation people.  
So, it is understandable that he’s never seen eyes such as fire-nation-y, and it is possible that there are eyes even _more_ fire-nation-y than those golden irises looking up at him more and more annoyedly.  
Oh, right.  
“I uh. I need to sit. Here. It’s my seat. So, could you please… get up?”  
Scowl-guy blinks, then gets up – mercilessly breaking Sokka’s illusion of being taller.  
He gives him a grin anyway, sitting down at last. “Thanks dude.”  
“You’re welcome.”  
Scowl-guy sits down as well, and returns to rummage through his bag.  
Sokka leans back into the seat, which is uncomfortable in the way any airplane seat is uncomfortable but also quite nice after he’s been standing and running around that huge airport. He fastens his seatbelt and actually listens to the safety briefing, because he’s never been on a plane on his own and because Dad made him promise he would.  
While the captain greets the passengers and goes on to talk about the expected weather in Ba Sing Se – cloudy, with a slight chance of rain during the night -, he watches Scowl-guy’s shoulders relax as he finally finds what he was looking for. A tiny wooden box for travel wristbands with a turtleduck sticker on it. He has to force back a chuckle.  
Scowl-guy puts the bands on, careful to have the tiny metal ball pressing against the inside of his wrists. They’re outrageously bright, red and orange and yellow with a flaming design, so starkly in contrast with Scowl-guy’s all black outfit. He gives them the look of annoyed fondness that belongs to embarrassing gifts from people dear to you, and Sokka finds himself smiling.  
The plane starts moving along the runway, and Scowl-guy pushes his bag under the seat in front of him after taking a book.  
“I’m Sokka, by the way.”  
His extended hand hovers above the empty seat between them.  
Scowl-guy turns to look at him properly, and cracks a tiny smile. He then raises one hand to give an awkward wave, the other still clutching his book.  
“Zuko here.”  
Sokka retreats his hand, feeling a ting of annoyance at being left hanging like that – but still, ex-Scowl-guy seems just awkward, not rude.  
With the plane’s speed increasing, he closes his eyes and leans back against the backrest, trying to settle that weird feeling in his stomach take off always gives him.  
He can feel himself being pushed back, and hear his neighbour’s breathing become forcedly deep and slow. Some kid is merrily kicking the back of the seat in front of him, one or two rows before his.  
Soon enough, his mind is filled with the static buzzing of airplane ears.  
He should probably take a picture of Caldera City from above, Katara will give him hell if he doesn’t uphold his promise to photograph anything and everything.  
Sokka opens his eyes, hands already reaching for his phone, and looks out of the window. He finds himself staring, wide-eyed, because it’s a sight beautiful in a way so foreign to him.  
When he flies over home, below him is an endless white, the snow, the houses, the palaces. Everything is pure and simple and familiar – white and blue and all their shades have been around him ever since he was a babe.  
He’s never seen so much red. Caldera City is a mosaic of red tiles inside the dormant crater of the volcano. All flattened out by the aerial view, traditional houses and skyscrapers are all just tiny red squares laid out before his eyes, the Royal Palace easily recognizable with its golden roofs shimmering in the sunlight.  
He snaps a few pictures and then, having done part of his duty, he returns to his just-resting-my-eyes-def-not-sleeping position with the intention of staying there until the “ding” that precedes the captain’s messages announces that they have reached cruising altitude.  
Sokka might black out a little, because only the second “ding” – the one announcing passengers can now use electronic devices – has his straighten up and stretch a little. He yawns until his ears pop and he can hear decently again, then gets his tablet and earphones to watch “Love Amongst the Dragons”, an Ember Island Players production that is a couple of years old and that his literature teacher recommended him.  
He’s just about to put in his earphones when he hears his flight neighbour scoff, looking down at the tablet balancing on the other boy’s legs and the bright red title on yellow background.  
Sokka turns in his seat to glare at him – dude’s still got the book in his hands, but he pushes a piece of yellow paper in and closes it.  
“Got anything against theatre, dude?”  
Zuko’s – that was the name, right? – eye widens, cheeks growing flustered.  
“N-no I- it’s just that the Ember Island Players are kind of… terrible.“  
“Oh.” – is the only eloquent thing he can say, because he definitely didn’t expect that.  
“Yeah. Their most recent productions are not… the best, in my opinion. They _butchered_ Love Amongst the Dragons, last year,” - Sokka tries very hard not to snort at the pathos in the boy’s voice – “But, if you look at some older stuff, they’re actually better. Like, if you watch their Love Amongst the Dragons from a decade ago, it’s quite good!”  
His neighbour then goes on to tell him about the misuse of special effects and casting errors and alterations to major plot points in the last few years, and Sokka finds himself quite enraptured by the ~~monologue~~ conversation.  
“You seem to… like theatre a lot.”  
He says, like an idiot, when Zuko has finished explaining why last year’s costumes were bad.  
He blushes some more, and looks down.  
“Yeah… I do. Do you?”  
“Do I what?”  
Zuko raises an eyebrow – well, he only has one, but still – and he’s almost as good as Katara at looking at him like _that_.  
And _that_ means like they’re rolling their eyes without actually having to do that, just so incredibly done, but in an amused way.  
“Like theatre.”  
“Oh. Yea. I actually like poetry better, but theatre is pretty neat.”  
Though one eye is set in its permanent frown, Zuko’s face lights up. He’s about to say something, but the wonderful sound of the snack cart wheels captures Sokka’s attention completely.  
“Would you like something to eat or drink, boys?”  
His stomach grumbles, and Sokka is quick to answer. “Komodo chicken sandwich and a water bottle for me, please.”  
“And fireflakes for me, please.”  
The lady pushing the cart gives them the practiced smile of flight attendants, tells them the prices and hands them their food.  
They’re munching on their respective snacks when Zuko turns to him and asks, voice low and words slow like he has to force them out.  
“Would you like to watch a play together?”  
He’s fidgeting with his seatbelt, nervously unfastening and fastening it again.  
Sokka shrugs, but a smile tugs at his lips. “Sure, why not?”  
“I’ve got an older production of Love Amongst the Dragons if you- uh- want.”  
“Sounds good to me.”  
He gives a thumbs up, as a plus – because Zuko looks like he needs a little encouragement. The other boy smiles a thin smile that reaches his eyes, and moves into the seat closer to Sokka after he gets his tablet.  
“I’ve only got headphones, so maybe it’s better if we share your earphones?”  
“Yep.”  
They sit close, shoulders touching and hands brushing when Sokka decides to steal some of Zuko’s fireflakes – which does not end up well for him, because he didn’t expect them to be so spicy, which, Zuko says, is quite stupid given that they are literally called _fire_ -flakes – to watch a three hours long play in monochrome.  


\------- 

The baggage reclaim area is, as expected to be in the Busy and Great International Airport of Ba Sing Se, bustling and noisy.  
The two boys stand side by side by one of the belts, searching for their suitcases – actually, Sokka doesn’t have anything except for his bag and his wheeled duffel which he did not check, because Dad paid to add a bigger carry-on.  
He’s just there to help Zuko look for his own stuff and because they were still talking about the play when they got off the plane and had, in fact, finished talking just a few moments ago – not because they had _actually fished_ talking, just because the noise made it hard to continue the conversation.  
So, the two boys stand side by side by one of the belts, searching for Zuko’ suitcase.  
It’s supposed to be rectangular and black, which fits about half of the luggage Sokka sees, and should have some red string thingies attached, which fits about half of the luggage belonging to fire nation tourists.  
As they stand and wait, he begins thinking about how he’d actually be kinda sorry to not see Zuko again.  
“How long will you be here?”  
The other boy reaches to inspect a black luggage’s red strings, but it’s not his.  
“In Ba Sing Se? Three weeks, why?”  
“Well, I’ve been thinking we could maybe meet up again? We swapped numbers and all so-“  
Zuko’s eye goes wide, and then becomes not much more than a slit as it does when Zuko smiles with his eyes – like when Sokka was agreeing with him on the quality of the costumes or when the Dark Water Spirit did a particularly complicated stunt or when his phone buzzed because of a message from “Uncle”.  
“Yeah, I would like that. I’m on a study trip, but I should have some free days.”  
“Great!,” Sokka cheers, returning to look at the baggage belt. “Wait. Could that be yours?”  
“It is!”  
If Sokka noticed the suitcase because of the very tiny turtleduck plush hanging between the red strings, he does not mention it.  


\------- 

Soon they’re at the airport exit, and Sokka is checking his emails for where the meeting point with the “Four Elements Experiences” group should be.  
Zuko is still by his side, probably looking for his own group meeting point.  
Four Elements Experiences is an independent travel agency based in Omashu, which aims to “broaden the world for any kid, creating bridges among the Nations” or some stuff like that. In short, it offers study trips and abroad experiences with mixed groups and pretty reasonable prices at the expense of not having bending teachers and avoiding fancy stuff.  
And it’s not like Zuko is some stuck-up snob, he’s nice and a bit awkward and Sokka likes him, but the boy is well dressed and a firebender. It’s quite more probable that he’s there with some Fire-Nation, middle class group of teens who’ll go watch plays and have a firebending teacher with them.  
Unexpectedly, both he and Zuko head towards the F.E.E. meeting point, and the woman holding what he supposes is a list of names looks up and smiles.  
“You two must be Sokka and Zuko.”  
They both nod, as she beams and motions them to come over and join the other kids.  
“Very well, then we’re all here. My name is Joo Dee, and I’ll be your guide in Ba Sing Se.”  


\------- 

Sokka and Zuko get their rooms close. Of course they do, since two seconds after realizing they’re in the same group they’ve chosen to be ~~summer winter~~ summer – it _is_ summer in the Earth Kingdom - vacation buddies.  
They spend the journey to the school that will host them chatting about everything and anything. At first, they mostly talk about how amazing Ba Sing Se monorail is, how crazy it is that it’s still fuelled by earthbending, and the like.  
But then, when they’re sitting down very hungry and very tired – because the sun is beginning to go down and they still haven’t had dinner -, Joo Dee hands out the backpacks.  
And, as quietly as possible, everyone – all 24 of them - starts grumbling about those atrocious things. They’re a horribly sickly green, with the symbols of the four elements printed on it and F.E.E.’s logo too.  
Zuko is complaining because it’s far too colourful for his liking, Sokka is complaining because it will clash with his mostly blue wardrobe – and because he’s a human being with some _taste_ – and all the other kids are not exactly happy too because it does, in fact, look awful, and is too tiny to be of any use.  
Joo Dee looks at the group with her terrifyingly plastic smile and tells them kids who behave badly are taken by the Dai Li agents, never to be seen again.  
Then she laughs, like it’s some super funny joke.  
Nobody else does, but she doesn’t mind, and proceeds to give them an impromptu history lesson on Ba Sing Se secret service, now technically demolished.  
Sokka and Zuko get their rooms close. Of course they do, since the school that will be hosting them is a very nice building with very nice dorms that feel just too empty with only four groups of about twenty kids and a park right behind it.  
Which would be nice, very very nice, if it were morning and the sun were shining and they had free time, but it’s night and it just feels eerie and Sokka knows it’s just because of Joo Dee’ stupid stories about the Dai Li – which doesn’t exist anymore… right? - but he still can’t help but toss around in bed like a _child_.  
He’s sent his goodnight text to Dad and Katara and Bato – that is to say, se sent a selfie and a “Night guys” on the family group chat – a while ago, right after dinner, and he will not write to Katara because then she will think he can’t sleep without her mumbling in her sleep in her bed and snoring coming from his dads’ room and that is not true.  
It’s just that he’s very tired from the journey and he’s jet lagged and that Joo Dee is pretty weird and he swears that he saw a shadow move in the park-  
He breathes in deep and grabs his phone, only to look at the screen for a whole five minutes, pondering.  
**This place is pretty weird.**  
He writes to Zuko, praying to Tui and La and even Agni that he’s still awake. His prayers are heard, and answered in a few minutes with a ding coming from his phone.  
**It is. And our guide is… unnerving.**  
Sokka chuckles.  
**Unnerving? She gives me the creeps. I hope our teachers are less weird.**  
**I hope so too.**  
He closes his eyes, and thinks that since Zuko saw him tear up at the Dragon Emperor and the Dragon Empress kiss there really is nothing more to lose.  
**I can’t sleep.**  
He looks at the words in silence, waiting. Scowl-guy is writing… appears on the screen, and dread builds up in his stomach.  
**Me neither.**  
Sokka knows that now, it’s only a matter of who cracks first. Of who will ask the great question.  
A tree branch near his window creaks, and he jumps out of his skin.  
**Wanna share a room?**  
The reply comes far too quickly for it not to make Sokka laugh softly.  
Yeah sure. Mine though, your window looks onto the park.  
Clutching his phone, pillow and necklace he sneaks out of his room, locks the door, and slips into Zuko’s.  


\------- 

Sokka wakes up in the middle of the night to find Zuko having a nightmare.  
He’s gasping and thrashing about – oh, _that_ is why he woke up. He does feel a faint pain from his shin, which, he supposes, his buddy kicked because they are squeezed together in a bed that is meant for one person.  
Zuko might also be crying, sobbing or mumbling something, but Sokka’s far too half-asleep to be sure of it.  
Still, Sokka is a big brother and Katara used to have nightmares all the time after Mum died. It’s kind of drilled into him now, like how he would wake up even if Katara was being really quiet and barely moved. He doesn’t need to be fully awake to comfort a person.  
He would wake up and stumble out of bed and go lie down beside her – even if it was freezing outside the blankets and Katara had wrapped herself up in hers like a cocoon – and just, be there. Brush her hair, put a hand on her arm or back, mumble half-forgotten lullabies of when Mum was still there.  
He does the same with Zuko. It’s something done by trial and error, his hand moving away from whatever spot it was tracing calming circles on as soon as he feels Zuko tense up.  
Until at least he’s found a spot that works and one of Mum’s lullabies that seems to soothe him, and he comforts him until his breath is even again and he’s stopped kicking around and then some, just to be sure.  
Then he turns to the other side to hug his pillow and falls back asleep.  


\------- 

Next morning, as they eat breakfast, Zuko is more silent and awkward than he has been in the few hours Sokka has known him.  
It might be from the nightmare or from sleeping together.  
Sokka might never know.  
The canteen in buzzing with the chatting of people, and they do not speak as they eat. Until, at least, Zuko takes and long sip of tea.  
“Thank you, for yesterday.”  
It might mean the nightmare or the sleeping together.  
Sokka might never know, and it might drive him mad.  
But he shrugs and cracks a grin.  
“You’re welcome, dude.”  


\------- 

The teachers are less weird than Joo Dee. Some lessons are boring, some lessons are ok, some lessons are pretty cool.  
It stops raining long enough to go for a quick walk into the park and return drenched.  


\------- 

On their second night in Ba Sing Se, they share a room again. They share a room, because ~~if~~ when the Dai Li comes for them in their sleep, if they’re together they have better chances at fighting back.  
It’s, actually, Joo Dee’s fault, again. At lunch, they were talking about politics – another subject Zuko has _opinions_ on – and he’d pointed out how crazy it was that the Earth Kingdom was still a monarchy. Zuko had agreed, even the Fire Nation had become a Republic!  
Then his face had gone pale, eyes fixed somewhere behind him, and Sokka had turned. Joo Dee was looking at them, with her doll-like eyes and too-wide smile.  
Sokka was pretty sure she’d heard, Zuko was pretty sure Dai Li agents were coming for them that night.  
So, they share a room again.  
Sokka is pressed between the wall and Zuko, trying not to melt because the boy’s a human shaped heating pack.  
“When the Dai Li comes for us,” Zuko says, switching the lights off, “I will distract them with firebending so you can get away.”  
Sokka chuckles, yawning. “I appreciate the thought, but if the Dai Li comes I’ll fight them with you, dude.”  
Zuko curls up on his side and kicks the blanket further away at the end of the bed – it might have been raining for two days, but the air is heavy and hot.  
“That’s dumb. But whatever makes you happy, Sokka.”  


\------- 

It’s raining when Sokka wakes up and it keeps on raining for the whole day.  
Zuko’s place in the bed is empty, Sokka’s not too surprised – he had learnt that “firebenders rise with the sun” just the day before, when he’d had to rise with the sun too.  
His eyes scan the room and find his friend sitting in a seiza in front of the window. There is a small flame in his hands, and it grows and shrinks with his breaths.  
Sokka stares at the flame in Zuko’s hands and the warm glow it casts on his face, clashing with the cold light of a clouded sky that seeps inside from the window.  
He stares, perhaps, a little longer than he should.  


\------- 

That afternoon, they munch on kale biscuits and fireflakes as Sokka subjects his friend to the torture of one of the most recent performances of Love Amongst the Dragons.  
They sit on the floor, his tablet on the bed – hoisted up with books and pillows – while a summer rainstorm splits the sky with thunders and lightning.  
Zuko doesn’t like lightning – he tenses up, hands twitching and breath forcibly slow and deep like during take off. Sokka takes it upon himself to distract him with a comment that, he knows, he will regret.  
“Well, it’s wasn’t that bad…”  


\------- 

It’s the third night in Ba Sing Se and the Dai Li – which might not even still exist – has not abducted them yet.  
There is no reason to be squeezed like canned fish in that too-small bed again.  
Sokka points out that the Dai Li might just be waiting for them to drop their guard and be alone in their separate rooms to strike.  
Zuko agrees, warmth in his eyes.  
Outside, lighting crackles.  


\------- 

Zuko has another nightmare. It’s worse than the first one.  
They do not talk about it at breakfast.  
He suggests Sokka return to his room, now that they’re sure neither of them is getting taken by the Dai Li anytime soon.  


\------- 

After a week, the rainstorms stop and they finally go further than the daily trip to the supermarket in the next street for instant noodles – which Zuko complains are never spicy enough – and snacks – Sokka can’t believe they don’t have any seal jerky – and tea.  
On their first day trip, Joo Dee brings them to visit the Middle Ring. The financial district and the Town Hall are fine, the restaurants Sokka plans to go look at on their lunch break are better, but there is one thing he can’t wait to visit.  
Ba Sing Se University.  
He can’t help but smile and babble excitedly to Zuko, who allows to be dragged around by his wrist with a smile on his lips.  
The lunch break began half an hour ago, when they have finished seeing anything in the University that could be seen. They sit on a bench in the park, eating and chatting.  
“Do you want to study here, in Ba Sing Se?”  
Zuko asks, stealing one of Sokka’s crab puffs.  
The other boy makes an indignant noise, and reaches for one of Zuko’s meat dumplings.  
“Yeah, I think I will. It’s one of the best, after all, and I really like what their engineering courses offer, tough political sciences sound cool too and-“  
“So we’ll meet again.”  
Zuko says it so softly, Sokka almost doesn’t hear him.  
“Come again-?”  
“We might meet again. I- my Uncle plans to move to Ba Sing Se and open a tea shop and I will probably follow him.”  
Sokka _beams_.  
“That’s wonderful, Zuko!”  


\------- 

There is an open space on the school grounds, where benders can train – everybody knows _benders_ need to _bend_.  
Sokka stretches as he walks. He wants to see Zuko firebend, he’s wanted to ever since he saw that flame breath with him on the morning of the second day in Ba Sing Se.  
His friend is practising something similar and yet so different from Katara’s waterbending katas. He’s barefoot and shirtless and Sokka feels a pool of something he writes off as dread in his stomach – he convinces himself it’s just because fire is kinda scary.  


\------- 

Sokka wonders why Zuko is afraid of lighting if firebenders can bend it – ok, only some can, but Zuko seems to be pretty good, so Sokka doesn’t see why he couldn’t be one of those.  
Sokka wonders why a firebender has a burn mark that big and that weird from a training accident.  
Sokka wonders why Zuko only talks about an uncle, and a sister sometimes – his eyes are full of sadness when he mentions her.  
Sokka asks nothing, because he knows Zuko will only build walls as high as Ba Sing Se’s around himself and he doesn’t want to lose his buddy.  


\------- 

The sun is low on the horizon and a warm and reddish light fills the firebender’s room.  
Sokka sits on the floor and watches Zuko, sitting in front of him, as he holds a teapot with one hand and bends the fire in his other hand to burn hotter under it.  
The water boils in a moment, and Zuko pours it into the open cups before him.  
Sokka has seen him do it a dozen times, since these second dinners are quite common – they are growing boys and growing boys need food, Gran Gran would say -, but it still amazes him.  
Zuko opens his flavouring packet and pours it into his cup, then takes Sokka’s and is about to do the same thing.  
“Wait, wait. I don’t want to add all of it.”  
The other boy eyebrow shoots up.  
“Why not? They’re bland with the whole packet, they’ll taste like nothing.”  
Sokka, who had insisted on buying the Extra Spicy Instant Noodles Zuko so harshly criticized for being Moderately Spicy at least, nods.  
"I’m a normal person with a normal taste buds, thank you very much.”  
He takes the packet and adds just a little bit to his cup. He hands the rest to Zuko, who looks at it with disbelief, but then shrugs and pours it inside.  
“Your loss.”  
“Crazy firebender.”  
Sokka has to agree with Zuko, the noodles taste kinda bleah with that little flavouring, but his friend hums in satisfaction as they eat and his shoulders move up and down in a little dance that has Sokka feeling things he labels as i-just-care-about-my-buddy though he knows it’s not just that.  


\------- 

During the weekend they visit the Agrarian Zone – Sokka can’t hide his amazement at the sea of green and yellow crops before his eyes – and the Zoo.  
Sokka can’t help but chuckle and feel that warmth in his chest again as Zuko _gasps_ and _sprints_ towards the turtleduck pond, reaching inside his pockets for a few coins to get a handful of seeds and feed them.  


\------- 

It’s their last week in Ba Sing Se.  
Zuko is on the training ground, practicing in the sunlight after two days of rain – just a drizzle, a gentle shower.  
Sokka is an idiot and he knows it, and he knows it’s a very bad idea, but he goes to watch his buddy firebend – hair tied up in a topknot that’s starting to fall apart and shirt discarded on the nearby bench along a water bottle and a towel.  
Zuko finishes his kata, stretches and waves at him when he notices him.  
He can only scream in his mind, because _of course_ he’d get a crush on his summer vacation buddy- and _of course_ he’d realize it when it’s almost finished.  
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.  


\------- 

Two days and they’ll be back home. The knowledge settles heavily in Sokka’s stomach.  
There are still two school years before he University.  
Maybe they’ll keep in contact, Sokka hopes they will.  
He grabs his bag and heads out to search for some silly souvenir to gift Zuko.  


\------- 

It’s the last night in Ba Sing Se, and Sokka just finished closing his duffel – it took quite a lot of effort, probably because his possessions have grown quite a bit with his gifts for Katara and Dad and Bato and Gran Gran and Mum.  
He hears a knock on his door and he knows it’s Zuko because only Zuko taps to the tune of the opening music of that documentary about the history of theatre he forgot the name of.  
“Come in!”  
“Hi,” the other boy peeks inside, “Do you- Would you mind going for a walk?”  
Sokka almost giggles in relief, because he was just trying to work out the guts to ask him the same thing. He turns and wiggles his eyebrows suggestively.  
“And walk straight into a Dai Li trap?”  
Zuko is not amused, and lets it be known by rolling his eyes.  
“Anyway, sure, I’m up for a walk anytime.”  
“Good- I… can we go now or do you want me to wait-?”  
He notices how nervous Zuko has become, and is struck by the feeble hope that maybe, just maybe, he kinda likes him a little too. Sokka does not know if that would make things easier or not.  
He grabs a little brown package and slips it into his pocket.  
“Let’s go, I’m basically finished here.”  
They walk in a silence as awkward as the first days, they walk down the corridor and through the common hall and into the school garden. They walk until they’re far enough from the building and Sokka’s chest is tight.  
Words slip past his lips before Zuko can speak.  
“I just wanted to tell you, that I’m glad I met you and we became summer vacation buddies.“  
Zuko’s eyes dart up, his cheeks growing redder.  
“I’m glad I met you too, Sokka,” then, in a whisper that he wouldn’t have heard if mid-week evenings in Ba Sing Se weren’t this quiet, “I’ll miss you.”  
“I’ll miss you too,” oh no, he can feel his voice quiver, “Oh. I got you this so you can- remember the awesome friend you made in Ba Sing Se who saved you from the Dai Li?”  
He hands Zuko the tiny brown package.  
“I’d like to point out that I am the one who saved you from the Dai Li.”  
Sokka snorts, then shakes the package.  
“Oh, come on, it was a shared effort. Do you want it or not?”  
Zuko takes it with so much care, and chuckles. Then he reaches inside his pocket.  
“I have something for you too.”  
He hands Sokka a tiny green paper bag.  
They both open their gift, and they can’t help but laugh as they hold up quite similar bracelets. Zuko’s is two different shades of green, with some blue beads. Sokka’s is yellow and brown, and has a red bead in the middle.  
Zuko holds out his wrist in a silent demand for help in putting it on.  
Sokka obliges, tying it in a strong knot, their hands barely brushing. Then he mirrors Zuko’s movements, and lets the other boy tie his bracelet.  
They both can’t help but smile, and Sokka leans a bit closer – now or never.  
“Sokka,” Zuko whispers, eyes downward, “Thank you for- making these three weeks nice.”  
He should say something, maybe a joke, definitely not inch closer and closer to his summer crush. Alas, his body just does as it pleases, and his lips brush Zuko’s in a pale excuse of a kiss.  
There is some moment of stillness, in which Sokka thinks he has just done the biggest mistake ever made, but then Zuko kisses back.  


\------- 

They’re standing in the middle of the noisiness of Ba Sing Se International Airport, Sokka and Zuko.  
The first is playing with his bracelet, the latter is fumbling with the travel wristbands box.  
“Will you write to me?”  
The words are out before Sokka can stop them, and Zuko raises his eyebrow just like he did when the first met, with that same amused and fond annoyance.  
“We exchanged numbers for a reason, didn’t we?”  
“Well- yes.”  
Silence stretches on between them, as they stand in front if each other behind one of the many souvenir shops inside the airport, thinner and thinner until it rips.  
Zuko is the one who yields first.  
“Do you regret it-?”  
If he means their friendship, their kiss, or something else, Sokka does not know.  
“I regret nothing of these three weeks. I’m just sorry I- uh- decided to complicate things. I shouldn’t have. Do you? Do you regret it?”  
Zuko gives him a tight-lipped smile, and Sokka feels his shoulders relax – he didn’t even notice he was so tense.  
“I don’t. These weeks, I will hold the memories of all the stupid stuff you did and the stupid stuff we did together dear,” he shifts his weight from one foot to the other, “I want to keep in touch with you, if you want too, because you’re a very nice person, and a very smart person, Sokka, and I like talking with you. I also know I do not want to pursue any… relationship with you now- I hope we can still be friends-“  
Sokka smiles, and then he hugs Zuko – who is not very sure about what to do, but he does hug back after a while – because he doesn’t know how to answer.  
“I probably said it before, but I am so glad I met you. I’m so glad I am your friend.”  
A metallic voice invites the passengers to begin boarding for flight 56B to the S.W.T International Airport at Gate 16.  
Sokka smiles apologetically and a bit sadly – he’s happy to return home, but he knows he’ll miss Zuko.  
“Time to go.”  
Zuko offers a tiny smile that does not reach his eyes, but it is a goodbye so Sokka takes no offense.  
“Safe travel. I hope to hear from you soon, maybe to talk about one of those Southern Water Tribe plays you recommended.”  
“You will. ‘Till next meeting, buddy.”  
Zuko bows slightly, and he returns the gesture.  
“Until then, Sokka.”  
He turns, headed towards the huge yellow sign that says Gates 10-25. He makes it as far as twenty meters, before he hears Zuko’s voice calling for him.  
Sokka turns, and is met by the tiny and lopsided grin on Zuko’s reddening face.  
“You’re a good kisser, by the way!”  
That _jerk_.  
Sokka smiles all the way to Gate 16.  


**Author's Note:**

> I'm so proud of this story. I'm so in love with these idiot babies. I'm definitely going to write more about this AU (not necessarily only with Zukka, expect badass ladies and lovely dads and supportive uncles to pop up.)  
> Also check my tumblr just-apigeon for more info on the modern atla world in a post that I swear on Kyoshi I will make soon.  
> Comments are much appreciated (pigeon requires validation to work ;^;)


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